


Tattoo

by Bombay



Category: Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Genre: Birthmarks, Gen, M/M, Random & Short, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-12
Updated: 2016-05-12
Packaged: 2018-06-08 01:08:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6832648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bombay/pseuds/Bombay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neku has a birthmark.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tattoo

Beat's fingers traced the dark streak of skin across Neku's side. It splashed and blotched, like somebody had flung a paintbrush in his general direction. He didn't hate it, per se, but he wouldn't have been terribly fussed if he'd woken up to it having disappeared overnight. He wouldn't have been, at least before... But as Beat's curious fingers traced the edges of it, he thought he'd maybe kind of miss having that there, giving Beat's restless mind something to play with when his thoughts idled.

"I was thinking of getting a tattoo," Neku said finally. He could see Beat's mind snapping back into focus.

"Oh yeah?" he said, not taking his fingers off the birthmark.

"To cover that up. Something from CAT's work."

"Like a mural, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Ain't that kinda what you got?"

Neku paused. "It's not much to look at."

"But it's cool, innit? I mean, it's like God graffitied on you before you were even born."

Neku snorted. It wasn't God or any god, just a weird quirk in his DNA that made his skin form a bit differently in that patch. He knew that, but when Beat said it, he wanted to believe that there was a divine higher power up there that just had a bit of fun.

"Do you like it?"

"It's cool," Beat repeated, but it wasn't the same "cool" he'd just used. It never was with Beat - everything shifted meanings from minute to minute, depending on how he felt like expressing himself. "I don't have any kinda birthmark. I guess I'd get tired of it if I did, but I like seein' yours. It...it fits you."

"Yeah? How so?"

"It's... Aw hell, you're gonna make fun'a me if I say it."

"When have I ever?"

Beat paused. "A'ight, that's fair." But still he hesitated. "I guess you'd never see it at this angle, but this bit here," he traced along the edge towards Neku's front, "looks a bit like a leg, and this part here," he moved up across his side, causing Neku to twitch, "is kinda like stripes. And I mean, it don't got a head or nothin', but it's all kinda cat-like, y'know? So...it suits you..." he finished, his voice trailing off. Neku really didn't even have to look to know that Beat was blushing, because that's just what Beat did when he said things like that.

"You're saying I have tiger stripes?"

"I mean, I guess it could be a zebra... Or maybe just a little tabby cat."

"I think I like being a tiger."

"Yeah, you would."

Neku leaned down and kissed him.

 

"It's still fresh - don't poke at it," Neku warned, knowing how Beat gets when he's curious.

"Still can't believe you actually did it," Beat said, literally sitting on his hands as he admired the work. "Did it hurt?"

"A little, across the ribs, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it was gonna be."

"You shoulda let me come with you."

"Beat, you _hate_ needles - you would've passed out." At Beat's pout, he added, "Besides, this way I got to surprise you with the finished product."

"Yeah... Yeah, that's pretty cool." He reached up, wanting to touch the sharp black lines, embossed by the healing skin underneath, but he stopped himself and traced the air above it instead. The hind legs started on Neku's front, its tail curled around, then the body stretched across his side, the dark skin filling in a few guidelines, to the forelegs and head of an ever-watchful tiger on his back. Beat paused, looking at a small detail, and laughed. "You fuckin' nerd."

"You don't like it?" Neku teased, not talking about the whole tattoo itself.

Within the minimal details of the cat's fur and shadows, Beat could make out, after a moment, the clear katakana of his nickname, followed closely by Neku's name in katakana as well. "I fucking love it."


End file.
